Small town spirit: How Indiana's rural communities are working to reverse population losses
As Indiana anticipates slow population growth in the coming years, small cities and towns in rural Indiana are pushing forward with projects to attract residents and businesses to their communities.
Growth over the next four decades is projected to be lower than it was in the decade between 2000 and 2010, according to Matt Kinghorn, senior demographer at the Indiana Business Research Center. More than 70% of Indiana's counties are expected to lose residents over the next 30 years, many of which are rural and also lost population in the 2020 census.
'And the counties that are growing quickly are generally taking population from other areas of the state. So it's not an overall net increase,' said Matt Greller, chief executive officer of Accelerate Indiana Municipalities (AIM).
But small Hoosier communities aren't going down without a fight.
Local businesses, organizations and governments are applying for grants, investing in quality-of-life projects and supporting small businesses to draw new citizens and spur economic growth.
'For a community to have the amenities that folks want these days, whether it's broadband or trails or a vibrant Main Street, you've got to have a coalescing of people to make that happen,' Greller said.
Grants are crucial in helping small cities and towns in Indiana launch and complete initiatives. Community foundations, state entities and federal sources all play a role in funding local projects.
For example, Boonville in Warrick County is working toward Indiana Accredited Main Street (IAMS) status after completing the Aspiring IAMS 1-year Program.
'(Indiana Accredited Main Street) opens the door for more grant money, which is the key to doing just about anything that you want to do of significance. If you can't get grants, then you've got to do fundraising, and it's pretty hard to raise a million dollars in a town like Boonville,' said Jim Miller, executive director of Boonville Now. His group promotes the city's downtown.
The city even hired a firm with a grant researcher dedicated to ensuring community leaders know about every possible funding opportunity.
'The idea was, 'Let's pay this company $50,000 a year, and we'll be looking at $100,000, $200,000, $300,000 grants per year.' Then it pays for itself,' Miller said. 'I've got spreadsheets of probably 20 things that they're working on.'
Miller employs Placer.ai, a location analytics software, to track foot traffic in the city, then uses the information to apply for grants. Janelle Amy, executive director of Main Street Corydon, a Nationally Accredited Main Street community, also plans to use Placer.ai data to attract local investment.
Indiana University Southeast (IUS) is 'able to send some reports for us to be able to measure and see how many pings on these phones were coming through and being able to see those heavy spikes whenever we have those larger festivals, especially in our downtown, hoping that we're able to see that data year after year to see, 'Are we seeing continued growth? Should we focus our efforts elsewhere?'' Amy said.
Another grant source, the state-funded Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI), has given hundreds of millions of dollars to economic growth projects across the state. The READI program is not in the current version of the state budget, according to Greller.
'I hate to see that go away because it's such an innovative thing that set apart Indiana, certainly in the Midwest and maybe the rest of the country. It is having a real impact on some of these rural communities,' he said.
For small Hoosier cities and towns to survive, Greller said municipalities must be willing to fund projects that meet their residents' needs, particularly when it comes to quality of life.
'We live in a world where we all want lower taxes,' said Greller. 'But there are studies after studies that show once a government decides to make a formal investment in a community in a meaningful way, that typically has a snowball effect.'
Miller said increased property tax values helped Boonville accomplish several quality-of-life projects.
'We've been able to take advantage of that and issue bonds to be able to build a new pool and to completely renovate the splash pad and the playground area and the basketball courts and things at City Lake,' he said.
But property taxes are in the crosshairs at the Legislature.
Greller emphasized investment in city and town parks as a key driver of economic growth in rural Indiana.
'(Smaller parks) drive things like community events, farmers markets, summer concert series, hot rod festivals or whatever it is that wants to come to an individual community. Those kinds of investments have done well and created good returns over the years,' he said.
Miller said Boonville is also focusing on historic preservation with the Mt. Liberty Baptist Church and School restoration project. In Corydon, the town is building a skate park and increasing walkability by connecting downtown to Rice Island Park.
'Being able to expand that further out … we've opened up a whole other level for people to be able to visit our downtown and hopefully shop and support and live here as well,' said Amy.
When big employers leave small Hoosier cities and towns, residents often go with them. Corydon is looking to draw a new industry after Tyson Foods' closure last year affected nearly 370 employees.
New Gov. Mike Braun's campaign included a plan targeting rural Indiana, and the current state budget proposal includes a tax credit to attract qualified private sector investors to raise and invest flexible capital into rural communities and help rural businesses to sustainably expand their operations.
Greller said Gas City went through a similar situation as Corydon when the area was hit hard by the downturn in automobile manufacturing jobs.
'They pivoted. They made some strong investments in their community. They've seen an uptick in growth and population. They just built the performing arts center, which is a sign of things improving in those kinds of communities,' he said.
In Boonville, two new establishments — a restaurant with catering service and a cigar lounge — recently opened in the historic district, according to Miller.
'What we're trying to concentrate on is bringing in more small businesses because we do have some empty spaces on the square and around the square,' he said. 'We don't have any more land to be able to give a bigger industry that wants to come in.'
Thanks to city grants, Boonville entrepreneurs can apply for money to enhance building facades and revolving loan funds to make other improvements or start a business. Corydon also has a facade program funded in part by the Harrison County Community Foundation and a community collaboration fund created from a state grant.
'We were able to offer up to $5,000 to our downtown business owners for whatever initiative they needed at that time. So it could be purchasing new inventory, helping them with their marketing, Just whatever we could do to give them an additional boost to keep them here and hopefully support their initiative moving forward,' Amy said.
Programs like Make My Move and Choose Southern Indiana offer remote workers incentives for relocation within the Hoosier State. However, Greller questioned how emerging return-to-office policies will affect these initiatives in the future.
'I'm interested to see what happens in some of these communities that have had success attracting those folks into their areas,' he said.
Amy viewed new housing developments in Corydon and Harrison County over the past year as a sign of residential growth.
'I know of at least three additional apartment complexes within the Corydon area that are very close to downtown,' she said. 'And new subdivisions have been populating as well in Corydon and beyond.'
Despite the efforts of small cities and towns in Indiana to remain independent, Greller said some areas that thrived on historic economic drivers may need to have some tough conversations.
'We have some small communities that were there because there was a grain elevator 150 years ago or there was a railroad stop 150 years ago. Does it make sense for the viability of the region they're in to continue to exist as an incorporated area? Maybe we ought to look at merging with other forms of government for the greater good,' he said.
Federal funding cuts are also a concern regarding infrastructure projects and other initiatives in small municipalities.
'Many communities are fortunate to receive Economic Development Administration, (U.S. Department of Agriculture), Small Business Administration and other types of federal funding. I do believe that economic growth could be threatened if funding commitments from these federal agencies are halted abruptly,' said Darrell Voelker, executive director of the Harrison County Economic Development Corporation.
To persist, Greller said small Hoosier cities and towns must get creative and maximize opportunities to ensure sustainability and longevity.
'We're going to have to take a close look at ourselves and make sure we're running as lean and efficiently as possible to make sure we have resources to invest in these types of programs,' he said.
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